My childhood friend and her husband came over for dinner the other night and we decided to make something special… Stoverij, a traditional Belgian stew made with beer… and it is absolutely delicious! Cuski found this stovetop recipe online but we decided to make use of a slow cooker for some extra tenderness. Here’s what we did:

We used a bottle of Nostradamus to marinate the beef in. We put the beef, garlic, and bay leaves in a ziplock bag and poured the beer into it. It stayed in the fridge overnight.

Since we’re adapting it for a slow cooker, we had to pre-cook a lot of things. The bacon was crisped and left to drain in a container with paper towel. The veggies and tomato paste (instead of purée) were all browned and sautéed the night before as well. The morning of, I dredged the already marinated beef and browned them in a pan. The bacon and the veggies were tossed straight in the slow cooker pot along with the browned beef, beer marinade and beef stock. Don’t forget the bouquet garni! 8 hours later… deliciousness. The meat was falling apart and the sauce was very thick and flavourful.

We served it over pasta but you can also serve it with rice or potatoes.